


Knock, Knock, Who's There?

by alateni



Series: Bound by Blood [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, it's a vampire au, jihoon josh and some other seventeen members are mentioned, kind of blood?, side - meanie, this is the longest thing i've ever written lord help me, what do you expect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 17:59:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7902298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alateni/pseuds/alateni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Junhui, a vampire, has no idea why Minghao, his Chosen, is acting like this. What he does know however, is that Minghao is a petty little shit who won't come out of his room. And waiting patiently isn't in Junhui's dictionary.</p><p>Also known as: Minghao and Junhui play hide and go seek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knock, Knock, Who's There?

                “How long are you going to stay in there?” Junhui grumbles, knocking on the door for what seemed like the millionth time that night. He paces around the hall, stealing a glance every so often at the closed door, before sighing and returning to his previous place. “Seriously? This is really immature.”

                “You can’t come in!” a muffled voice shouts from the other side of the wood, and Junhui feels a strong urge to stab himself in the eye.

                “I couldn’t come in even if I tried!” Junhui hisses back, placing his hands on the wooden door. It would have been so easy to force his way through. Just a little push and Junhui would be able to practically shatter the material into splinters and step through the doorway in order to drag the un-helping human on the other side out, alas, such a thing was impossible. Junhui groans, trying again to push on the door, before he’s stopped by what appears to be a force field. An invisible barrier stops him for breaking the door down and stepping into the room and it was frustrating Junhui to no end. He really couldn’t enter the room and all because Minghao said he couldn’t.

                “Are you seriously going to do this?” Junhui calls, attempting to guilt Minghao into allowing him into the room. “What if–”

                “Don’t even try!” Minghao screams again. “You’re not allowed in!”

                “This is useless,” Junhui slides to the floor in defeat, curling into a small mound by the foot of Minghao’s door. The vampire looks up at the ceiling, tracing the patterns made by the dotted design, and decides to simply wait it out. Minghao would have to come out sooner or later; after all, he was only human and had to eat. A low grumbling in Junhui’s own stomach reminded the vampire of his own need to feast, but Junhui merely put a hand on his belly and smacked his face onto the ground. He had to eat, but if Minghao refused to let him into his room, then there was really nothing he could do. Resigned to his fate, Junhui hopes that Minghao’s tantrum wouldn’t last for too long before attempting to escape his hunger through the sweet seclusion of slumber.

 

                As Junhui fell asleep, the sounds from outside the door quiet down considerably, causing Minghao to poke his head out of the nest of blankets he had surrounded himself with. Listening intently at the silence, Minghao lets out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding before allowing the blankets to fall past his shoulders and back onto the bed. It looks like the old tale was right, Minghao thinks to himself as he inches closer to the door. Testing the knob lightly, Minghao slowly turns it before swinging it open. Merely hitting Junhui, Minghao manages to stop the momentum of the door just in time before peering down at the older man.

                The vampire seemed to be asleep, but Minghao wasn’t going to take any chances. Kneeling down, Minghao pokes the age old creature lightly in the face before softly stepping over him. Fleeing downstairs, Minghao walks through the millions of hallways that made up Junhui’s residence before finally finding the kitchen (thanks to a couple servants which he had encountered along the way). Upon entering the heavenly place, Minghao immediately sidled up to the head cook and brought out his best puppy eyes.

                “Mingyu,” Minghao all but coos, smiling sweetly when the tall man turns away from the batter he was making and raises an eyebrow at the slender male.

                “Yes Minghao?” Mingyu asks, pretending to be oblivious to the whole situation. He goes back to his batter, strong arm muscles working to mix all the ingredients together while Minghao jumps up and sits on the table beside him – away from the flour this time. The last time Minghao had visited his friend in the kitchen he had left with a ruined pair of black jeans. “What could it possibly be that you want?”

                “I’m hungry,” Minghao replies simply, smiling innocently when Mingyu fixes him another look. “Do you have any food?”

                “Lunch was an hour ago,” Mingyu states, flicking his head in the direction of the clock set on the opposite wall.

                “I wasn’t there,” Minghao says, still smiling but getting more impatient and jittery as he watches the seconds tick by on the clock.

                “And your presence was missed,” Mingyu continues. “But that’s not my problem was it?”

                “Why are you being so mean,” Minghao whines, not one for acting cute and helpless but he was hungry god damn it and nothing stood between him and food. “Aren’t you the one who said that I should eat more because I’m basically skin and bones and you don’t want to see me disappear on your watch because – as a cook who prides himself on guaranteeing his patrons happiness – that would mean you’re a failure as a chef?”

                “First of all, Jun hyung is the one who said that,” Mingyu answers with a pointed look, to which Minghao conveniently ignores. “And I usually say that to Wonwoo hyung anyways. And second, that is true but I’m also under strict orders not to feed you unless you come in with Jun hyung.”

                “B-but _why_?” Minghao groans, stomach grumbling in agreement. “You’ve never listened to Junhui hyung before!”

                “No ‘Junnie hyung’ this time? Jun hyung fucked up pretty bad huh?” Mingyu laughs, more to himself than Minghao, but the Chinese male has the decency to look annoyed anyways. “And I don’t, but Wonwoo hyung was the one who told me and he was very convincing.” Mingyu wiggles his eyebrows and winks.

                “You thirsty hoe,” Minghao rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe you sold me out for sex.”

                “Hey! I never said that!” Mingyu puts his hand over his chest, looking as offended as he could possibly be. “Wonwoo hyung is just very _persuasive_.”

                “I cannot handle you right now,” Minghao slaps Mingyu’s hand, causing the flour covered appendage to whack into the taller man’s chest and leaving a white imprint on the chef’s otherwise spotless black shirt. Jumping off the table, Minghao scampers out of the kitchen before Mingyu can react and makes sure to grab an apple along the way.

                “That’s stealing!” Mingyu calls after him, but seeing as he didn’t really make an effort to run after the other human, Minghao gets the feeling that Mingyu really did want him to eat more. Not like it was his fault, Minghao thinks as he bites into the apple. His body just naturally had a fast metabolism, anything he ate was immediately burned off, and if you added in the fact that Minghao’s bone structure was naturally small and thin in the first place, you got a lean, scrawny looking human with elfish ears and oddly coloured hair.

                Throwing the finished apple core into a garbage can, Minghao’s stomach continues its hunger pains – albeit it was a bit quieter now – and Minghao decides that he can spare a little more time into scavenging for food. While he had originally planned to zip down to the kitchen and go back to his room as fast as possible, Minghao decides to walk around in search of more food. After all, Junhui barely slept – being a prince and all, apparently that came with a lot of boring responsibilities that Minghao had never really bothered to learn about – so once he did he was pretty much out cold for a couple of hours.

                Entering the library, Minghao checks the front desk only to find it disappointedly empty. Pouting slightly, Minghao looks around the large section of the castle before climbing up the wooden stairs. The stairs creaked – no matter how many times they were repaired – but Minghao was used to it. He had spent many hours in the library, reading about vampires, science, music, anything really. Minghao was still pretty young, although in a castle filled with vampires he didn’t really have to say that, and he liked to learn. A lot. Junhui knew that, so he gave Minghao free reign in the library – to which Minghao abused greatly. The library really was big, one of the biggest sections of the castle, and held a lot of secret passageways and rooms. Minghao had spent weeks going around and making a mental map of the structure – to the point that the library staff ended up asking him to look for obscure books.

                “Minghao oppa!” a surprised voice calls, causing Minghao to turn around in his ascent to the next level. Peering through the shelves of books and other articles, Minghao waves at the black haired girl who was stacking papers and stapled documents and walks towards her. “I didn’t think you’d be here,” Jieqiong continues as Minghao helps her organize the papers. “The black header ones go in this folder,” she points out, tapping a medium sized pile with her left hand.

                “Why not?” Minghao replies, placing the document on top of the pile. Looking at the title on the front, Minghao’s brain fails to comprehend the vampiric writing so the young male gives up and reaches for the next document. “I always come here.”

                “Yeah but Junhui oppa,” Jieqiong starts, stopping only to kiss her teeth in annoyance. “Shit, I forgot the orange pile downstairs.”

                “I can get it for you if you want,” Minghao offers, knowing that the only thing the female hated more than not getting enough sleep was having to walk up and down stairs. “And what were you saying about Junhui hyung?”

                “Junhui hyung? Not ‘Junnie hyung’?” Jieqiong raises an eyebrow. “And no, it’s okay; I have to bring some other stuff down later so I’ll just go get it then.”

                “Why is everyone so concerned with what I call Junhui hyung,” Minghao sighs. “First Mingyu now you, is it really that big a deal?”

                “Seeing as the moment you were claimed you clung to his side and refused to call him anything other than ‘Junnie’ – which was extremely scandalous to the elders might I remind you – it kind of is,” Jieqiong answers. “After all, no one else calls him that. Heck, I don’t think Junhui oppa has any nicknames now that I think about it.”

                “Wonwoo hyung and Mingyu call him Jun,” Minghao counters, placing down the papers in his hand a little roughly at the mention of Junhui.

                “Woah there, these papers are old. We don’t want them ripping or else Jihoon oppa is going to rip _my_ head off,” Jieqiong holds out a hand and checks to make sure the papers aren’t ripped or crumpled in any way before going back to sorting. “And those are exceptions, I mean no one that isn’t a ‘bro’ to him.”

                “A lot of people call him Jun,” Minghao stresses, placing a little more emphasis on the ‘people’ than necessary.

                “Is this about what happened last night at the party?” Jieqiong raises an eyebrow. “Because you know it was a political issue.”

                “This isn’t about the party,” Minghao grits his teeth. “I thought we were discussing Junhui hyung’s nicknames.”

                “Well we were,” Jieqiong nods, “but now I’ve found something juicer and want to dig into it.”

                “Oh would you look at that,” Minghao straightens up and points at the imaginary watch on his wrist. “Time for me to leave. Speaking of juices I need to eat so I’ll be around.”

                “Around _where_? Minghao oppa I swear to god if you hid food around the library again–” Jieqiong starts, only to be ignored. The vampire sighs as Minghao disappears upstairs, racing to whatever haven he had been obsessed with lately, before looking down at the papers and attempting to make sense of them.

                Upstairs, Minghao quickly climbed another two levels before weaving through the bookshelves. Reaching a darkened corner of the library, Minghao reached down in between a chair and a book and retrieved a matchbook he had hid there for times like this. Slipping the object into his pants, Minghao feels around the bookshelf in front of him before finding an odd knob jutting out of the wood. Pushing down on it, Minghao leaves his hand there for several seconds before the shelf shudders and slowly begins moving to the side. Waiting for it to completely stop, Minghao walks into the space and slips between another bookshelf. While it was a tight fit, Minghao was used to it and held his breath just so in order to get through. On the other side, Minghao finds another knob and turns it, causing the bookshelf to move back into place. Now in practically complete darkness – the only light coming from the moonlight which filtered through the heavy pages of books – Minghao takes the matchbook out and lights it. While it probably wasn’t a good idea to have fire in the middle of a room filled with books, the fire was enchanted – courtesy of Jisoo – and wouldn’t consume anything that the user didn’t want it to. Feeling the ground beside him, Minghao picks up a conveniently placed candle – which he had left there on purpose – and lights the wick. Moving around the small alcove, Minghao lights up the other candles scattered around the room before the entire place with illuminated with soft candle light. Blowing the match out, Minghao settles down in the corner of the room farthest from the entrance and reaches around to pull a small lever. A soft creaking noise is heard before the wooden boards beside him spring up and reveal a small enchanted freezer.

                After Minghao had taken to practically living in the library, Junhui had asked Jisoo to make the human something that could hold his food. In response, Jisoo created a wireless fridge, which needed no outlets to keep it cool, along with a microwave which was enchanted in the same manner. Minghao had asked for multiples of Jisoo’s new creation, and had hid them in his favourite secret rooms around the library. Opening the fridge, Minghao smiles as he spots the bag of food. Taking some out and placing it on a plate – a stack of them was also placed beside the appliances – Minghao quickly microwaves the snack before settling in to eat.

 

                Opening his eyes, Junhui hisses as he sees how bright the world has gotten in while he was off sleeping. Getting up into a sitting position, Junhui narrows his eyes as he adjusts to the brightness. Sneaking a scorching glance out the window, Junhui notes that it’s around morning – meaning he’s missed dinner. Although it didn’t really matter. While vampires could eat solid food, and Junhui did enjoy eating a good meal every so often, they didn’t really need it to survive. The meals were more out of courtesy for their Chosen. After all, while human food was good, nothing could match the taste and scent of your Chosen’s blood.

                “You’re a very good guard,” a voice speaks up, causing Junhui to look up from his daze. “I’d definitely trust you with my life, prince,” Wonwoo snorts, causing Junhui to tilt his head in confusion. “First of all, you’ve been sprawled on this ground for like, three hours. And second, look,” Wonwoo points, causing Junhui’s head to turn around. Craning his head to look around the opened door, Junhui is suddenly hit with the fact that the door was _open_. Jumping up, the vampire prince swings the door completely open and tries to walk in, only to be stopped once again by the barrier.

                “Seriously?” Junhui curses, straining his eyes to look into the room. Luckily, Minghao had left his curtains open – something that bothered Junhui immensely when he spent the night but Minghao said he liked it so Junhui couldn’t really complain – allowing Junhui to scan the very empty room. “He just left?”

                “He left like two hours ago,” Wonwoo responds, entering the room easily and sitting down on the bed as to piss Junhui off even more. “Visited Mingyu in the kitchen asking for some food.”

                “What the hell,” Junhui groans, resting his head on the transparent barrier that kept him out but allowed Wonwoo to walk through. After all, Minghao had never said that Wonwoo couldn’t come in. Although there was that nagging voice in the back of Junhui’s head saying something about how vampires couldn’t enter rooms unless they were invited so, at some point in time, Minghao had to have invited Wonwoo into his room – Junhui stops his thoughts before he could get any more annoyed. “Where is he now?”

                “I don’t know,” Wonwoo shrugs, grinning to reveal his sharp canines. “Mingyu didn’t let him have any food so he left.”

                “Mingyu should’ve stopped him,” Junhui hisses.

                “You shouldn’t have fallen asleep,” Wonwoo defends his Chosen, raising an eyebrow. “What are you two fighting about anyways?”

                “We’re not fighting,” Junhui says automatically, eyebrows knitting together. “It’s merely, a dispute, of sorts.”

                “Bullshit,” Wonwoo calls, raising an eyebrow. “Mingyu says he hasn’t called you ‘Junnie hyung’ ever since you guys fought.”

                “Does that matter?” Junhui stresses, running his hand through his hair tiredly. Wonwoo merely gives him a pointed look because yes, it did matter. Ever since Junhui had claimed the human for his own, Minghao had gotten around to calling him ‘Junnie hyung’ no matter what the elders said. It wasn’t suited for a royal prince to be titled such a childish nickname, they had stated, but Minghao paid them no mind. While, at times, Junhui couldn’t help but feel frustrated at Minghao’s lack of knowledge in terms of vampiric traditions and mannerisms, he still admired his willingness to learn and to stick to what he did know and believed in. And in this case, Minghao decided that _fuck the elders_ he was going to call Junhui whatever he wanted because, in his words, “If you get to steal me away from my mountain village and make me your blood bag I should be able to call you whatever the hell I want.”

                In any case, Junhui had gotten used to the endearment. Only Minghao called him that – Mingyu had tried once and was rushed to the healers with a broken arm, even Wonwoo had kept silent then – and it served as a kind of, Junhui sighs, he didn’t know. It acted like a kind of agreement. It made him proud – although it really should have been the other way around – that Minghao was able to call Junhui something that no one else could. It, in a way, was a symbol of their union, however pretentious that sounded, and Junhui had found himself missing the soft way the younger human would call his name, voice always bordering on a laugh as Junhui complained about the millions of things he had to do, before the slender boy would pull Junhui away from his desk and calm him in a way no one else could simply by running his hands through the vampire’s hair and mumbling his agreement every so often.

                “Okay whatever,” Junhui finally breaks, causing a triumphant smile to make its way across Wonwoo’s face. “Where could he be now?”

                “He’s your Chosen, you figure it out,” Wonwoo scoffs. “After all, you’re supposed to know him the best right?”

                “I guess,” Junhui says, but Wonwoo is already exiting the room and heading downstairs. The other vampire pats him on the shoulder in encouragement before leaving to do who knows what. Sighing, Junhui dusts his pants off and sets off downstairs. Roaming the passages, Junhui regrets that the castle his family lived in wasn’t smaller, before deciding to ask around for his precious Chosen. Most of his servants pointed him towards the kitchen, but when he arrived he found nothing but flour and a note from Mingyu saying that breakfast would be prepared by his assistants today.

“So that’s where Wonwoo went,” Junhui smiles slightly, tapping the note, before sighing. He was back at square one, and this time, he didn’t have anyone to help him. Playing with the flour on the table, Junhui draws patterns through the white powder before sitting up with a jolt. Minghao had been hungry, of course, the human hadn’t eaten since last night, and if he didn’t get any food from the kitchen... Junhui bounds out of the kitchen and towards the east wing of the building. If Minghao hadn’t managed to steal anything from the kitchen then he would’ve gone to his emergency rations in the library.

 

                Opening his eyes, Minghao blinks and blearily tries to make sense of his surroundings. Things were dark, much darker than they had been when he came in, although he was sure time had passed and the sun would now be at its peak. It was still slightly confusing, Minghao thinks to himself as he straightens up, to have his world turned upside down. Night was day and day was night for vampires and as one of their Chosen, Minghao was expected to adapt. He was doing well enough, but as a human born to live his life in the sun, he couldn’t help but miss the warm sunlight and bright environment it brought on. Leaning over, Minghao feels around the floor for the box of matches. Recoiling when he touches the remains of his snack, Minghao finally finds the box and sets one on fire. Holding it tightly, Minghao begins to inch around the room only to find that most of the candles had burnt out – which was probably why it was so dark. Managing to find two somewhat salvageable candles, Minghao lights their wicks before blowing the match out. Leaving one candle in the middle of the room as to provide a main source of light, Minghao takes the other candle and walks towards the corner where another panel in the wall was loose. Shaking it gently, Minghao reaches inside and takes more candles out and replaced the ones around the room. After fully illuminating the area, Minghao checks inside his storage and makes a mental note to grab more candles later on.

                Leaning back on the wall, Minghao picks up his plate and traces the designs on the back of the dish. He closes his eyes, enjoying the silent seclusion of the area, before his mind begins wandering. He wonders, momentarily, about whether or not Mingyu got in trouble, before deciding that even if he did, the human would probably go off and whine to Wonwoo – thus escaping any sort of punishment. While Wonwoo wasn’t a prince like Junhui was, he was still of high standing and was considered Junhui’s right hand man. When Junhui ascended into his father’s position, Wonwoo would only naturally become one of his most trusted advisers and strategists, giving him some sort of leverage over the other inhabitants of the Wen manor.

                Grimacing at the thought of Junhui, Minghao opens his eyes again before his mind could replay the scenes of last night. Huddling close, Minghao hugs his knees closer to his body and shivers. Now that Minghao had eaten, he found himself wondering whether or not Junhui was hungry. Vampires could go a couple weeks without eating if they really pushed themselves, especially those of higher status considering they had better self control, but in the end they would still need to eat. In addition, the longer a vampire went without food, the stronger the blood lust. While it wasn’t unheard of for a vampire to attack an unsuspecting human, it happened. Most vampires had their Chosen to feed off of however and that’s what made them, what made him special.

                Some vampires romanticised the concept of a Chosen, spouting nonsense about soul mates and how there could only be a select few Chosen for themselves. It was a lie, in Minghao’s opinion at least, because no matter how many benefits humans got after becoming a Chosen, vampires would always outlive their Chosen. So how come vampires are allowed to have so many _soul mates_ but humans can only have one? It seemed extremely unfair and definitely biased. Luckily, Junhui shared in his sentiment. Nonetheless, it would be a lie to say there wasn’t something special between the Chosen and their vampire. Much like the soul mate theory, a vampire’s Chosen had to be selected carefully. They couldn’t just reach out and grab whichever human first came their way. In the first place, the whole deal had to be mutual and consensual. The vampire had to be willing to take blood from the Chosen and the human had to fully understand and accept what would happen afterwards. Even then, the two beings might not be compatible. Sometimes there were small repercussions, bad tasting blood or intense dizziness for the human were some of the normal symptoms for a not matching vampire and human. The more extreme cases involved serious injury and death – mostly in those scenarios where the blood taking was not consensual. Of course, vampires are creatures of manipulation and seduction, it’s almost _too_ easy for them to find an unsuspecting victim and have them agree to give their blood, but this kind of activity was looked down upon and would definitely come with repercussions – a defense mechanism for humans in a sense.

                In the case of Minghao and Junhui, they had matched long before Minghao found out Junhui was a vampire – or a _prince_ for that matter. Minghao remembers their first meeting like it was yesterday, mostly because of the anger that had arisen out of it. Back in the early days of their relationship however, Minghao would’ve easily fallen prey to Junhui’s pouty lips and sweet apologies. But now, Minghao had seen the kicked puppy act almost too often and had grown somewhat immune to it (the key word being _somewhat_ ) – which is why he was currently hiding out in the library. It wasn’t like Minghao was _angry_ per say, more like annoyed. So, as a kind of punishment, he had locked Junhui out of his room.

                Well, he hadn’t really _locked_ the vampire out; more like Junhui wasn’t allowed in. It had been an old myth; something Minghao didn’t even really think was real, that vampires couldn’t enter a room unless invited. So Minghao tested the theory out. He honestly hadn’t expected it to work, seeing as vampires weren’t allergic to garlic or didn’t sparkled in the sunlight like the rumours said, but surprisingly, it seemed that Junhui really couldn’t enter the room unless Minghao let him.

                A loud noise coming from somewhere down below knocks Minghao out of his meditative state. Scrambling into a laying position, Minghao presses his ear to the floor and tries to hear what’s going on. The library was old, and thus, the floors were thin and there were many holes in between the floor boards, allowing sound to travel. It was almost ironic, how sound travelled so easily in a place that was supposed to be silent, but it worked in Minghao’s favour most of the time.

                “Jieqiong I know he’s in here just tell me where he went,” a muffled voice says, annoyed and slightly worried. Minghao could recognize that voice anywhere. Heartbeat quickening, Minghao struggles to remain calm, not wanting Junhui to be alerted of his presence. Hopefully Jieqiong would keep quiet and Junhui would leave. After all, there were so many places to hide in the library; he couldn’t _possibly_ look through every single one of them could he?

                “I don’t know where he is oppa,” Jieqiong responds, irritated at the amount of visitors she was getting. She wasn’t an isolated person normally, in fact, the girl loved to talk to people and learn their stories, but when she was working she was completely focused. The one thing she hated the most was people disturbing and distracting her when she wanted to get things done and today she had already had two visitors – two more than she would’ve liked.

                “But he’s here?” Junhui asks, and Minghao finds himself warming to the genuine concern in Junhui’s voice. Steeling himself as he remembers the night before, Minghao clenches his fists and tries to soften the sound of his breath. Vampires had amazing hearing and he didn’t want to give away his position, after all, if he could hear them then that meant they could hear him.

                Jieqiong doesn’t respond, but apparently that’s enough of a response for Junhui as the older vampire immediately begins searching the area. Listening as Junhui’s footsteps pad away, Minghao decides it’s time to leave. His best bet now was to somehow navigate his way out of the library and return back into his room where Junhui was still not allowed to enter. After all, the only reason Minghao had left his room was for some food and exercise because he had been cooped up there for a little _too_ long.

                Blowing out the candles, Minghao quietly slips through the bookshelves, exiting the room a different way from the one he came from, and listens intently. While he didn’t have the sensitive hearing of vampires, his hearing was better than most humans – perks of being a Chosen – so he used it to the best of his ability. Moving between the shelves, Minghao makes sure to use the secret and hidden passageways he had discovered in his time in the library as best as he can. He makes it to the second floor of the library before he hears someone coming his way. Cursing his luck, Minghao realizes there were no safe rooms close to him. Looking around, Minghao decides to just _fuck it_ and begins to climb a bookshelf. Reaching the top, he perches precariously between the wall and a light fixture and watches as Junhui comes into view.

                “You’re kidding me,” Junhui looks up at him with a shocked and disbelieving gaze. He walks as close to Minghao as he can – which results in standing beside the bookshelf Minghao had climbed – and almost laughs at the situation at hand. “That’s dangerous get down from there,” Junhui commands, narrowing his eyes when Minghao shakes his head stubbornly and refuses to respond. “Just because you’re not talking to me doesn’t mean I’m not here,” Junhui calls, “you can’t just childishly annoy me forever.”

                “ _Childishly?_ ” Minghao breathes in sharply, scowling down at Junhui. If he had been in a better mood, he might have made a joke about being the taller one for once, but, for now, he was annoyed and slightly scared at the predatory look in Junhui’s eyes. “I’m not the child here.”

                “Technically you’re _way_ younger than me so you are,” Junhui points out, reminding Minghao once again of how _human_ he was. It was almost annoying; the way Junhui treated him like a delicate vase. He wasn’t going to break anytime soon yet Junhui didn’t let him do anything even _remotely_ dangerous and it was seriously getting on Minghao’s nerves. Sure, he was a human, he wasn’t as _talented_ as vampires, but he still had perks as a Chosen and was stronger than your normal human being. And that had to mean he could protect himself or be able to follow Junhui when he went on missions right? Nope, apparently, in Junhui’s eyes, it meant next to nothing.

                “Oh yes, definitely, let’s talk about how _old_ you are,” Minghao rolls his eyes. “You’re just a perverted old man then you pedophile.”

                “ _Minghao_ ,” Junhui warns, growling slightly. “We’re not going to go through that again. Vampires mature differently than humans I’ve told you this–”

                “Which is why you’re acting like an asshole pre-teen then right?” Minghao states, sticking his nose sassily in the air. Junhui growls, sending shivers down Minghao’s spine and a whine threatens to spill from his lips, but he keeps them shut.

                Seeing as Junhui hadn’t made a response, Minghao looks back down only to find the vampire missing. Eyes widening, Minghao begins to move, either to scramble back down the bookshelf or to walk from the tops of the wooden structures, before he feels a presence on his other side. Jolting to the side, Minghao turns suddenly to see that Junhui had already climbed the bookshelf with his enhanced speed. Backing away, Minghao feels his balance fail him as he slips. His ankle twists in an uncomfortable manner before the boy is falling towards the ground. Closing his eyes, Minghao anticipates the incoming impact. However, he doesn’t slam into the ground as he expected. Opening his eyes, Minghao finds himself wrapped in Junhui’s grip. The vampire had lunged after Minghao, molding his body around the younger’s, before flipping around in the few seconds they had before they reached the ground and landed on his feet – much like a cat.

                “I told you it was dangerous,” Junhui breathes out, carrying Minghao in his arms and beginning to walk out of the library.

                “I would’ve been fine,” Minghao tries to keep his rebellious tone, but it was difficult when he was being held bridal style. He also couldn’t keep the concern from rising in his heart when he feels how cold Junhui was though. Vampires were normally cold, seeing as they didn’t have blood pumping through their veins to give them warmth, but they could maintain a somewhat decent body temperature (although it was much lower than a human’s) from feeding regularly. Junhui’s cold skin was yet another indication that the vampire hadn’t fed in a while and that was mostly Minghao’s fault.

                Junhui remains silent the whole way back to his room. Minghao notices that he avoids the more public hallways, preferring to take the ones reserved for royalty and those of higher status, so they don’t bump into anyone. As they enter Junhui’s room, Minghao also takes note of the fact that Junhui probably still couldn’t get into his room before he’s deposited unceremoniously on Junhui’s wide bed. Floundering on the covers for a bit, Minghao finally managed to sit up in a somewhat respectable position before flinching when his ankle comes in contact with the bed. Although Junhui’s mattress was much softer and nicer than Minghao’s (Junhui had arranged it that way so Minghao would be more tempted to sleep with him – the brat), it still stung. Blinking away tears, Minghao tries to lean forward to inspect his foot but a wave of pain passes through him before he can get far enough.

                “You twisted your ankle when you fell,” Junhui explains, sitting down next to Minghao and pushing the human back into the bed. Flopping onto Junhui’s pillows, Minghao breathes in deeply, trying to ignore the spicy yet homey scent Junhui gave off, and wiggles his left foot experimentally.

                “I can tell,” Minghao states simply after coming to the conclusion that his other foot was fine. Junhui scoffs, slightly amused, before standing up and walking away. Unfortunately, Minghao can’t see where he went from his position. Junhui’s bed was really big, and the multitude of pillows obstructed Minghao’s view. Soon enough however, he feels the bed dip underneath the vampire weight. Settling down, Junhui leans over to put a couple pillows behind Minghao – allowing him to sit up – before opening the medical kit he had brought. “I can do it myself,” Minghao says for the sake of talking. It was too quiet in the room and it unnerved him. Mostly because of the guilt and shame Minghao felt for hurting himself and inconveniencing Junhui. If there was one thing he hated more in the world it was being an inconvenience. To be told he was useless was pretty much the worst thing you could say to Minghao, which was why he hated it when Junhui treated him like he was too delicate to go outside.

                “You can barely sit up,” Junhui points out, unwinding a bandage. “Just let me do this for you okay?” Junhui looks up, meeting Minghao’s eyes with a pleading expression. Minghao opens his mouth, wanting to make a defiant remark, but ends up shutting it after Junhui pushes him back down in between the pillows. Shifting to get into a more comfortable position and ignoring the flushing of his ears, Minghao watches with hooded eyes as Junhui wraps his ankle tightly as to mend it together. If he had been a regular human it probably would have been best to take him to a hospital or a healer but as a Chosen, this was the best thing. Most Chosen could self-heal a lot faster than humans given time – especially if they were close to their vampire. The only thing they really required for lesser injuries like this was to keep it clean and giving it basic care.

                “It’s fine, stop touching it,” Minghao snaps after Junhui bites his lip in concern while staring down at his ankle. “It’s already starting healing – leave it alone.” Minghao wiggles his right toes to show that it was indeed, less painful than it had originally been, before Junhui accepts his words and put the first aid kit away. Coming back, Junhui regards Minghao with an unreadable expression before sitting on the bed. Climbing to sit near Minghao, Junhui settles beside the human. Trying to read Minghao’s facial expressions, Junhui lays his head on the smaller boy’s shoulder and reaches out to entwine their fingers.

                “I was worried,” Junhui says simply, playing with Minghao’s slender fingers. He traces every scar and indent on Minghao’s hand, cupping it in between his own, and begins massaging it subconsciously.

                “I know,” Minghao replies, closing his eyes and letting his own head rest on Junhui’s. He had felt it as if they were one being. A vampire and their Chosen had a special connection after all. It allowed them to have a general feeling of where they were – which was probably why Junhui had found him so quickly despite the fact that Minghao also knew where the vampire was – as well as an emotional link. From that bond, Minghao or Junhui could sense certain emotions despite any amount of distance, and, if they focused hard enough, could also telepathically communicate.

                The two stay connected like that, Minghao dozing off since his energy was being sapped by his healing. Junhui stays close to Minghao’s side; breathing in the younger’s fresh and comforting scent, while taking in as much warmth as he could from the human beside him. Soon enough, the daylight faded, brining the so called vampire ‘night’ to an end. A new day began, and Junhui could hear the clattering of people in the halls. While his room was located in a more isolated part of the castle, it was still close to one of the main hallways – both as a protection measure (so he could always have guards close by) as well as a personal preference. Junhui didn’t like the idea of being high and mighty. Although he was a prince, he had always taken it upon himself to interact with everyone – regardless of ranking – and it was probably because of that reason that he met Minghao. He had been on a simple exploring mission when they crossed paths – a very basic one which only required a small number of vampires. His father had originally forbid him from going, but Junhui had snuck out with Wonwoo to join the lower ranked vampires anyways. He had wanted to see beyond the walls of his castle and surrounding village.

                Despite having grown up a prince, Junhui didn’t really have a country to rule. He was merely of royal blood, long descended from a line of kings. The real, main king of all vampires resided back in vampire territory, a good month’s travel westward from their current location. Junhui’s ancestors had moved away from their original land, settling some ways between the mountain regions and the bustling city ports as a kind of embassy. While Junhui was still important, he wasn’t exactly the crowned prince, meaning he didn’t have a country to run. He did, however, have a certain amount of land and villages to protect – as well as a job as a representative for vampires in foreign affairs around this area. In this way, Junhui was quite important, having talked to the crown prince and vampire king directly multiple times, but he was far enough removed from the royals as to not be bothered with their customs and drama.

                “You found him,” a deep voice comments, and Junhui looks up to see Wonwoo standing politely just inside of his room. The other vampire shuts the door when he sees that Minghao was resting before walking a bit closer. Peering down at the human’s foot, Wonwoo raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything. “Should I still tell the rest that you’re dealing with internal affairs?”

                “Did they believe that lie when you told them yesterday?” Junhui muses amusedly. “I didn’t think they would,” Junhui rolls his eyes when Wonwoo shakes his head. “At least they’re not questioning me yet. It’s a good thing my dad’s not home.”

                “If he was here I doubt what happened at the party would’ve occurred,” Wonwoo points out.

                “Yes, yes, I know, it was my lack of political prowess – I should’ve handled the situation differently. I am _aware_ Wonwoo,” Junhui narrows his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. He had one too many times about the mistakes he made at the party, and he had been paying for them dearly – case one being the slumbering human beside him.

                “Sorry,” Wonwoo apologizes. “But you do need to work on that. You’re good in every other aspect except this one.”

                “Sorry if I don’t seem like the commanding type,” Junhui snorts, causing Minghao to shift slightly. “I don’t like being so authoritative – you know that. It makes me feel pretentious.”

                “But you’re a prince, you’re going to have to learn,” Wonwoo lowers his voice as to not disturb Minghao. “Whether you like it or not Jun, it’s a part of the package. You can’t just be a genius strategist, militarist, and writer without becoming a politician as well.”

                “Politics suck,” Junhui grimaces.

                “Minghao is rubbing off on you,” Wonwoo smiles amusedly, albeit a bit tiredly.

                “I’m working on it, at least I managed to get the situation last night under control without one of the elders stepping in,” Junhui sighs, resigning himself to his inevitable fate.

                “True, that’s a step forwards I suppose,” Wonwoo nods. “You might want to spend some time later with Seunggwan or Jeonghan though, just to learn from someone closer to your age.”

                “Seunggwan isn’t even a vampire,” Junhui huffs.

                “And yet he’s better than you at damage control, that says something,” Wonwoo grins, winking at Junhui before yawning. “Now I’m going to leave you to reconcile with Minghao. Mingyu made some really killer pancakes and waffles for breakfast so I’ll make sure to tell him to save you some – who knows how long you’ll take, it’s Minghao after all.”

                “Shut up,” Junhui groans. Minghao’s stubborn mentality was well known throughout the castle, mostly because of the many arguments he had with Junhui. The two were very much in love, that was for sure, but it didn’t help that Minghao hated feeling useless and Junhui tried to protect him too much. “Make sure you save the chocolate chip and blueberry in case everything goes wrong.”

                “Sure,” Wonwoo chirps, skipping out of the room.

                “And next time you and Mingyu have sex please clean yourself up afterwards your hair is a mess and you honestly smell like shit,” Junhui wrinkles his nose, causing Wonwoo to flush deeply.

                “I don’t smell!” he calls dashing out of the room. “I made sure of that,” Junhui hears him mumble as he closes the door behind him. Bursting out into laughter, Junhui smirks as he hears the, “you asshole you just wanted to make fun of me,” from outside before Wonwoo leaves for the kitchen.

                “Was that Wonwoo?” a sleepy voice asks, and Junhui looks down to see that his outburst had awoken Minghao. Blinking the bleariness out of his eyes, Minghao straightens up, stretching the knots in his neck while Junhui begrudgingly leaves his side.

                “Yeah, he came to uh, tell me about stuff,” Junhui said, not sure how much he should say considering the fact that he wasn’t too sure if Minghao was still mad at him or not.

                “The elders are angry at you aren’t they?” Minghao asks, running his hands through his hair. He fixes Junhui with a slightly berating stare. “After all, you spent most of yesterday outside my room and the rest of the day looking for me – I doubt you spent much of your time attending to your ‘princely duties’,” Minghao scoffs, sarcasm dripping from his words. Yup, Junhui grimaces, he was still mad.

                “They’re... getting impatient,” Junhui replies, wincing at the unbelieving look Minghao shoots him.

                “Interesting how they have enough patience to watch certain scenes play out but don’t seem so considerate for other things,” Minghao scoffs. Sighing, Junhui moves forward, turning around so he can watch Minghao’s face front on, before licking his lips nervously. Minghao fixes him with an uncaring face – betrayed only by the way his lips turn down when he once again notices how cold Junhui is – before leaning back into the pillows and headboard.

                “Listen,” Junhui starts, voice taking a more dominant tone. Minghao immediately swallows the snide remark he was about to make and crosses his arms instead. He looks off to the side, taking interest in the small shelf of books in the corner of Junhui’s room, but stops talking nonetheless. “Yesterday, or well, what happened at the party two days ago, it was an accident. My fault entirely, I should have taken care of the situation better – really I stalled for too long, but you know, you especially, know that I, I don’t like being so, authoritative? I thought things would be okay, but obviously, they weren’t, and it’s my fault.”

                “I’m not mad about that Junhui,” Minghao speaks up. Junhui raises an eyebrow at the lack of honourfics but allows Minghao to continue nevertheless. “Yeah, so a drunken princess from a far away land got out of control and while talking about trading relations, practically sucked your face off, whoop-dee-fucking-do,” Minghao grits his teeth. “It’s an unpleasant image for sure but I’m not stupid, she was drunk and she has a _fiancé_. Even if I was insecure – which I’m not, about _her_ at least – I’d like to think you have the brains and morals to not hit on a taken woman.” Shuffling uncomfortably, Junhui grimaces as he vaguely remembers the girl’s lips on his.

                It had been a political dinner, something along the lines of improving relationships between territories, and a lot of important people had been invited. Junhui, as the prince of the manor, was the star of the night, along with a variety of other royals his age. One of their honoured guests was the girl Minghao had been talking about; at this point Junhui doesn’t even really remember her name. All he knew was that she was a human from a neighbouring country and had tagged along with her father. The dinner and party afterwards had gone alright; a couple minor fights had broken out like they always did when talks of treaties and negotiations were mentioned, but nevertheless Junhui thought the whole thing was a success. That is, until said woman got slightly drunk on wine – to be fair Mingyu _had_ brought out a slightly stronger alcohol that night – and practically flung herself onto Junhui. He felt bad for the girl, especially because she’d probably be extremely embarrassed and ashamed in the morning, but she had also kind of been sexualizing the whole concept of vampires and drinking blood so he couldn’t feel too much pity for her.

                Junhui never really understood it, but Minghao had explained to him multiple times about the different views humans had on vampires. On one hand they were frightened, as they should be, considering vampires were, ‘creatures of the night’ and ‘bloodthirsty murderers’. But the end of the spectrum was those that romanticised the concept of vampires. Romance books and media alike had chalked vampires into a kind of mysterious, misunderstood race which caused ignorant humans to empathize with them. Junhui wasn’t really sure which opinion was better; he had other things to deal with, but now he realized that they both had their cons.

                “So then,” Junhui starts up, freezing momentarily when Minghao gives him a scrutinizing look, “w-why are you mad?”

                “Do you seriously not know?” Minghao explodes, sighing loudly. He looks at Junhui, observing the vampire’s every facial feature and reaction, in hopes that he was kidding before sighing yet again. He didn’t want to act like a kid about it, but Junhui was honestly unbelievable sometimes. Minghao wasn’t petty enough to wait for Junhui to figure things out himself – sometimes the prince was a bit too dense for that – but he was still in a state of disbelief.

                “Maybe?” Junhui replies shyly, his previously confident state vanishing when Minghao sighs _yet again._

                “You had a party that night correct?” Minghao starts, wondering if he should continue dropping hints or if just telling Junhui straight out would be easier.

                “It was a political dinner, but sure,” Junhui corrects, smiling sheepishly when Minghao glares at him.

                “Shut up, you know what I mean,” Minghao grits his teeth, trying to ignore the way that Junhui inches his hand towards Minghao’s and entwines their fingers together again. Leaning forwards, Junhui places his head back in its previous spot on Minghao’s shoulder before wrapping his other hand around the human’s waist. “Anyways,” Minghao clears his throat when Junhui blows a stream of hot air into his ear. “You didn’t tell me.”

                “Yeah?” Junhui exclaims, obviously taken aback. He lifts his head and turns slightly, looking Minghao in the eyes and raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t tell you?” Junhui repeats, still confused as to why Minghao was bringing this up.

                “And why _didn’t_ you tell me?” Minghao narrows his eyebrows. “Don’t you think I would’ve liked to know? That you know, my boyfriend was going to host a party with alcohol and maybe I should go to watch over him so something like _that_ won’t happen?”

                “But you’re never interested in politics,” Junhui replies, blinking slowly. “Whenever I bring it up you immediately change the subject. And last time I brought you to a dinner you practically begged me to leave early.”

                “Okay that’s only because you were wearing a tailcoat,” Minghao blushes slightly, biting his lip. “And you look _really_ good in a tailcoat. But that’s not the point here,” Minghao changes the topic quickly when he sees the smug expression on Junhui’s face. “The problem _here_ ,” Minghao quickly goes back to being serious, narrowing his eyes and glaring once again at Junhui. “Is that you didn’t _tell_ me.”

                “W-what?” Junhui leans back, looking at Minghao with a mixture of confusion and disbelief.

                “I don’t _care_ what you do in terms of politics Junhui,” Minghao clarifies. “But, I _do_ care if you go off and do things without informing me first. I’m your Chosen Jun, but before that I’m a friend, a confidant, heck your _boyfriend_ for fuck’s sakes. You need to stop looking at me like I’m a piece of glass that’ll break if you touch me. I can handle things, disturbing things, meaningless things, hurtful things, _whatever_ , I’m not stupid and you know very well that I was doing quite fine by myself before you came along thank you very much.” Pausing for a moment, Minghao gives Junhui a pointed look, and the vampire shuffles awkwardly at the memory of his first attempts at wooing Minghao. “So the thing is, _tell me things_. I know you don’t talk to me about half the stuff on your mind because you think I’m ‘scared’ or whatever. Don’t look at me like that, Wonwoo hyung tells Mingyu everything – unlike you – and Mingyu tells me because he trusts me – _also_ unlike you.”

                “So fucking don’t think I’m some damsel in distress, because if you do think that, _fuck you_ I’ll fight you right here right now even though my ankle still hurts,” Minghao narrows his eyes, glaring Junhui into submission. Or well, until the other boy looks down at the blankets sheepishly. “Got it? I’m not mad about some stupidly petty matter that the elders will probably blow out of proportion, I’m mad because you don’t fucking treat me like your equal.”

                “I’m sorry,” Junhui whispers, and Minghao is slightly (read: largely) taken aback by how passive the other male looks. Blinking slightly in shock, Minghao licks his lips awkwardly as he waits for Junhui to elaborate. The older male swallows slowly, Minghao’s eyes following the vampire’s Adam’s apple, before he opens his mouth to speak again. “I didn’t, realize.”

                “Really now?” Minghao can’t help but snort. He immediately whispers a, “sorry” after seeing Junhui wince at his sarcastic tone.

                “I just,” Junhui bites his lip, shuffling on the bed slightly to get into a more comfortable position. “You were so small and ignorant when I first met you, you know? This little boy hidden away in a mountain village who hadn’t even seen the ocean before, and _I_ was responsible for taking him away. It didn’t help that you got really sick days after you came here remember?” Junhui continues, and Minghao nods, thinking back to the months he had spent bed-ridden after arriving at the Wen manor. It was mostly because of the different bacteria and pollution from the surrounding villages. Minghao’s hometown had been fairly clean with massive amounts of fresh, mountain air so the skinny human hadn’t been prepared for the onslaught of bacteria and disease that came with living near a big city.

                “And then when you got better, even though Wonwoo assured me you’d be fine, I was always kind of scared. I didn’t feel good, knowing that you got sick just because you became my Chosen. It was my fault, that’s what I thought – sometimes I still relapse – that you got sick because I was selfish and chose you and,” Junhui blinks, looking down at the bed in a very un-Junhui like fashion. Minghao sighs gently, reaching over to wrap his arms around Junhui, before leaning back and causing the vampire to settle against his chest.

                “It’s not your fault,” Minghao whispers into Junhui’s ear, rubbing comforting circles on his back. His hands move teasingly over the vampire’s broad back, starting from the spine towards the shoulders and then slowly towards the lower-middle back section until Junhui hums lowly against Minghao’s neck. “I know I was sick – really sick. It gave everyone a scare I think,” Minghao chuckles slightly at the memory of all his friends freaking out the minute Minghao stepped outside for the first couple weeks after he got better. “But it’s been years since that happened Junnie, it’s not going to happen again just because you let me off. And hey, if it does, then you’ll have a reason to keep me locked up in your room.”

                “That sounds slightly suggestive Hao,” Junhui mumbles, still more on the quiet side. He nuzzles his nose into Minghao’s neck, tightening his hold on the other’s waist – when or how he got his arms there Minghao’s not entirely sure but he’s not really complaining – until neither of them were sure who was holding who. “But I like it,” Junhui drops his voice an octave, causing Minghao to shiver slightly at the intonation, before Junhui breathes onto Minghao’s neck. “It’s breakfast by the way, Mingyu’s making pancakes. I told Wonwoo to save you some.”

                “Hmm,” Minghao hums in response, relaxing in Junhui’s hold. “I do like pancakes.” Junhui nods, getting up to prepare himself for more social interaction, only to be stopped by Minghao’s hand on his bicep. “Wait,” Minghao mumbles, and Junhui pauses in panic. He had thought things were fine? They explained themselves, and although Junhui hadn’t really promised he wouldn’t stop treating him like a precious artifact, Minghao had called him ‘Junnie’ and they’d come to a silent mutual agreement about the whole thing so Junhui had assumed he was home free. Guess not.

“You have to eat first,” Minghao says, veering the conversation in a completely different way than Junhui had originally assumed.

                “I’ll eat at breakfast,” Junhui says, narrowing his eyes in slight confusion.

                “ _No_ ,” Minghao rolls his eyes. “Not _that_ kind of eating.”

                “Oh,” Junhui blinks. “Oh!”

                “You’re an idiot,” Minghao laughs, sitting up straight. His ankle hurt a lot less now. It had healed substantially overnight and he felt very minimal discomfort from it. Making a note to untie the binding Junhui had so pain staking over applied last night, Minghao turns towards the vampire on his (or well, technically it was Junhui’s) bed. “Come here, you’re freaking _freezing_ and I can practically feel your headache,” Minghao says, prompting Junhui to scoot closer. He wasn’t really lying, he could feel a faint pain in the back of head – courtesy of Junhui and his connection. And if Minghao was feeling it, that could only mean it was a good three or four times worse for Junhui. It wasn’t often that pain was felt through the connection, only emotions, so for Minghao to even be aware of Junhui’s headache, it meant that Junhui was either in intense danger or he was bordering onto bloodlust.

                “I didn’t know if you would let me so soon,” Junhui says sheepishly. He had been ignoring the pounding headache for the last couple of hours and although it had started in the back of his head, it had now spread upwards towards his temples and now he could feel it pressing at the back of his eyes. The last time Junhui had fed was a good two weeks ago, mostly because he had been too busy with paperwork and dealing with the different requests of those attending the party two nights ago. Then, after the party, the whole argument had happened meaning Junhui was very much not in his best state of mind.

                “Well I don’t want you to die on me so hurry up okay? Mingyu’s pancakes are going to be gone soon,” Minghao replies, and Junhui needs no further invitation. Leaning forwards, the vampire licks his lips lightly before his fangs grew in length. Kissing Minghao’s neck gently, Junhui dug his canines into the human’s neck and rubbed circles with his thumb comfortingly into Minghao’s hips.

                While the taking of blood between a vampire and their Chosen wasn’t painful, it definitely wasn’t comfortable. Minghao felt a sharp prick of pain as Junhui’s fangs entered his skin, and no matter how long he’d been doing this, the human couldn’t stop the intake of breath and slight shuddering of his body as he felt Junhui begin to extract blood. Soon enough however, Junhui’s saliva entered the wound inflected on Minghao’s neck, and its numbing properties began to take effect. As Junhui draws away from Minghao’s neck, fully sated, Minghao falls against the other’s broad shoulders in a bit of a numbly pleasant state. Vampires with Chosen didn’t have to drink a lot of blood, as long as they fed regularly, while those without often drained their victims dry as they waited until they absolutely had to feed – which was another reason why finding a Chosen was preferable.

                “You good?” Junhui asks, licking his lips as his fangs retract to their regular length. While they were already pretty long in human terms, they grew whenever vampires entered blood lust or fed – until they peeked out of a closed mouth. “Or should we wait a bit?” Junhui inquires as Minghao nuzzles into his chest. Most Chosen got like this after being fed off of, the numbing venom in a vampire’s saliva combined with the loss of blood made them weak, vulnerable even, and very, how would you put it, compliant. Smiling inwardly as Minghao pouts slightly and shakes his head, the vampire gathers his Chosen in his arms.

                “No,” Minghao whines lightly, pout increasing. “I want to eat,” the boy blinks slightly, trying to think of the appropriate words. “Mingyu’s pancakes, they’re really tasty,” Minghao finishes, smiling widely and giggling slightly.

                “I forget you act like a three year old child after I feed,” Junhui laughs openly at Minghao’s glazed eyes before he gets up. Dragging Minghao to the side of the bed, he carefully takes off the bandages on the human’s ankle before lightly pulling him into a standing position. Stumbling slightly, Minghao rests his head against Junhui’s shoulder before the two exit the room and make their way downstairs. Not quite sure if the dining hall was still packed or not, Junhui ends up leading Minghao towards the back entrance of the kitchen, were a smaller room was located in which Mingyu and his assistance usually took their meals. Opening the door, Junhui groans as he spies Wonwoo on top of Mingyu’s lap and quickly shuts the door.

“Fucking get decent,” he yells through the door. Flurried scrambling is heard soon after and the door is eventually opened by a flushed Wonwoo while Mingyu gives the other couple a shit eating grin. “For fuck’s sakes the door is unlocked,” Junhui grumbles as he leads Minghao in, the human boy still very out of it but slowly getting stronger by the second. Minghao settles in on one of the chairs in the room while Junhui sits beside him. Wonwoo plops down across from Junhui while Mingyu runs into the kitchen to fetch the pancakes he had saved.

                “So,” Wonwoo starts, glancing at Minghao. “You made up?”

                “Kind of?” Junhui replies as Mingyu comes back into the room, placing a large serving of blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes in front of Minghao. He hands Junhui his plate before the two humans have their own whispering conversation amongst themselves. “He called me ‘Junnie’ if that’s an indication of anything.”

                “Yeah that’s a big deal,” Wonwoo snorts, and Junhui rolls his eyes. Wonwoo and Mingyu soon leave, off to finish who knows what, with a quick reminder from Mingyu to put their finished dishes in the sink or the cleaning staff would flay his skin.

                “Are you feeling better now?” Junhui asks after setting his and Minghao’s plates in the sink. He settles down across from Minghao, watching as colour returns to the human’s face and smiling when the boy nods sheepishly.

                “Sorry,” Minghao apologizes, embarrassed with his previous actions. He had literally just told Junhui to treat him like an adult and then he turned into a helpless five year old after being fed off of. Even if it was a regular occurrence, Minghao couldn’t help but feel hypocritical.

                “No worries, you handled yourself well enough,” Junhui replies, laughing a bit at Minghao’s embarrassed face. “And about before,” Junhui starts. He coughs awkwardly when Minghao looks up at him with a somewhat hopeful and anxious expression but continues nonetheless. “I’ve, uh, thought about what you said and I think, maybe, I have been a bit overbearing.”

                “A bit? Try immensely,” Minghao scoffs. He stifles a laugh when Junhui gives him a disgruntled look before quieting down again.

                “So yeah, maybe, I could try, letting you like, go for a walk or something,” Junhui continues, rubbing the back of his neck. Minghao giggles again, holding up a hand as to show that he wasn’t making fun of Junhui.

                “You make it sound like I’m a dog or something,” Minghao says through his laughter, eyes gleaming mischievously at Junhui’s flushed ears. He didn’t originally think vampires could blush seeing as they didn’t have blood but he was proven wrong through many encounters with Junhui and the other vampires in the Wen manor.

                “Do you _want_ me to try and change?” Junhui raises an eyebrow. “I have no problem just locking you in your room for the rest of your life.”

                “Okay, okay,” Minghao shakes his head before skipping over happily and linking his arm with Junhui’s. “Let’s go for that walk then – before the elders realize you’re skipping work again.”

                “Hanging out with you is better than filing paperwork anyways,” Junhui makes a face, causing Minghao to laugh, before the duo leaves the room and flees their responsibilities if only but for a day.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for like, a month now. Mostly just a couple paragraphs here and there but I'm so happy it's finally finished-
> 
> There'll be more oneshots to look into this AU of mine (I've kind of hinted at other plotlines) so yeah, look forward to that.
> 
>   
> Hope you're smiling!  
> 
> 
>   
> ~ alateni  
> 


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